Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Public Schools rates a "B-" on niche.com. While its scores are lower in areas like Teachers and Administration, it gets "A's" for College Prep and high "B's" for Academics, so there's goodness amidst the different schools. We found a review from a parent of Tucson area schools and districts we think does a decent job summarizing some of the obvious choices.

I can't speak for all of the districts, but here are the ones I've had experience with from a professional standpoint:

Catalina Foothills is probably the best school district I have experience with. The teachers are paid somewhat well, the students have feature rich learning environments (aka the schools aren't old and crumbling - for the most part.) But the students can be absolute asses - bullying is rampant (and hilariously stupid - the 'rich' kids like to bully the 'poor' kids, but a lot of the 'poor' kids I dealt with had parents making 2x-8x what the 'rich' families made, but didn't throw money around the same way.) If your kids have interests in particular activities, clubs, or sports, I'd say check out the Foothills schools for the programs they have available.

TUSD is pretty middle of the road as far as public schools go. It serves a very broad segment of the city, including extremely poor and fairly well-off areas. School quality varies pretty wildly, but the school governance isn't terrible (it's improved over the past few years, but the school board has struggled with absences by its members or downright idiots (see the late Micheal Hicks's Daily Show interview…) There are quite a few programs for gifted learners - University High School is one of the stand-out schools in Tucson.

The flip side of the good districts is Sunnyside. Sunnyside is a challenged district and is the butt-end of education policy in the state. It covers an extremely poor and underserved area of the city/county, has extremely poor facilities (out of date and lacking amenities) and is universally Title 1. Sunnyside generally turns away no-one - their budget is so small (and perpetually being cut by the county and state) that they take anybody (for 100 days at least.) The leadership (especially over the past year) has been pretty stellar in terms of getting education (and food) into the hands of the students and keeping students and staff safe, but every state policy that adversely affects schools devastates Sunnyside. Sunnyside teachers deal with the worst effects, but are consequently paid a bit more (because of Title 1 regulations requiring certification) - teachers from Sunnyside frequently transfer to other schools for a pay cut to get away from the horrible systematic issues.

Vail is rich, but pays their teachers terribly and it shows (leadership is pretty abusive towards staff in my experience as well.) They have a mass hiring event every year, boast about their schools performances, but has a lot issues with parent, staff, and leadership communication. Some schools are better than others. Vail has very feature rich schools (pretty new facilities.) It's decent district considering the middle and upper-middle class demographic of it's area. If I lived in Vail, I would have few qualms about sending kids to Vail's schools - but it is a trek if you don't live in Vail.

Tucson is a growth city. But you should get while the getting is good. Relative to California, Colorado, Washington or Oregon or anywhere colder and/or more expensive, Tucson among other Arizona cities are increasingly popular and “filling up” fast.

Due-Office7750
Living in Tucson
3mo ago
✭✭✭

It will take awhile to adjust to the hot summers and different culture. But it is well worth it. We don't have 9 months of cold, wet, and dark here. Instead, we have 5-6 months of brutal heat, broken up by a couple months of rain July-Sep, followed by a lovely late Fall, Winter, and early Spring. As you can probably guess, solar panels do amazingly well here.

Housing costs are much lower than the PNW, though we all wish they were lower still. You should check out some of the apartment rental sites, also realty sites.

It is a year round outdoor city, though you really need to do your outdoor activities in the early morning during the summer.

Job market--depends on the industry you're in. Lots of tech jobs, lots of construction, lots of health care, lots of food service jobs available. The market is much tighter now than it was a year ago, though. Again, check out some job sites.

I love that Tucson is open and welcoming. I love the Mexican fusion food we have here. I love the different kinds of people you will see in the area--everything from multi-generational ranchers to new immigrants to highly educated tech types. It's fun to have opportunities to learn and use Spanish. I love Saguaro National Forest and Mt. Lemmon, which is a wonderful break from the summer heat. There is plenty of hiking and mountain biking here, though it's very different from the PNW.I love the rugged beauty of the desert and the lovely flowers in the Spring. Don't expect the lush greenery you came from though. Nobody has lawns here, they're too costly to water. But most people grow shade trees and native shrubbery/cactus. Just don't touch any of it until you know which varieties have thorns! The Southwest architecture is beautiful. You'll notice the tile roofs and floors of most houses. They're cooler in the summer and easy to maintain. You'll notice many homes have citrus trees in their backyards--we have an orange, a grapefruit, and a clementine tree. They do have to be watered.

For more reviews of what living in Tucson is like from locals check out: The Reviews